Vandals force Tunbridge Wells taxi driver off the road
A TUNBRIDGE Wells taxi driver says he has been forced off the road at the busiest time of year, after his cab was attacked by vandals. Paul Garty says it will cost him thousands of pounds in lost business while his cab is being repaired after having paint stripper thrown over it.
The 42-year-old parked his hackney carriage close to his boss's house in Woodbury Park Road overnight and was shocked to find the damage in the morning. He said: "I went to the taxi rank on the Monday morning and I didn't notice it because it was on the passenger side.
"When I got there the other cabbies looked at me and said 'have you seen your cab?' and told me it was damaged. I thought they were taking the Michael. "I had a look at it and I can't tell you what I was thinking. I had to take it off the road straight away because it wasn't fit. "It has made what was going to be a decent Christmas and New Year into a bad one. That is five to six weeks' earnings from a personal point of view."
His boss Paul Maynard, owner of Maynard Taxis, lives on Woodbury Park Road and was furious he had been left with the repair bill, which he thinks could top £1,000. "This person has put a cabbie off the road at Christmas," he said. "He can't drive that car and we don't have another one."
The London Hackney Carriage Act states it is illegal to use or hire a hackney carriage "whilst in a condition unfit for public use". The pair will be left without the taxi for up to six weeks during their busiest time of the year.
A Kent Police spokesman said: "We are currently investigating a report of criminal damage to a vehicle. The incident is reported to have taken place between December 9 and 10, whereby a corrosive substance was reported to have been thrown over a car that was parked in Woodbury Park Road in Tunbridge Wells.
"The damage is estimated to cost between £500 and £600 to repair. Anyone with any information should call 101, quoting crime reference YY/23115/12."
